A former CDU member of the German Bundestag, Mario Czaja, expresses concern over the AfD’s strong performance in Eastern Germany during the recent election.
According to Czaja, the AfD’s success in the region will result in the loss of many contact points over the next four years, as the party will now have more personal and infrastructural resources in the Bundestag. He believes that it will become increasingly difficult for democratic parties to counter the AfD’s gains.
The former CDU general secretary called on the party to intensify its political work in Eastern Germany. He urged the CDU to provide more logistical and personnel support to all eastern German electoral districts in order to build up the party’s presence and proximity to the citizens.
Czaja had won the direct mandate in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf constituency in Eastern Berlin as the first CDU candidate in the 2021 Bundestag election. However, he lost the seat in the re-run election to the AfD’s Gottfried Curio, who won the Berlin constituency for the AfD for the first time.